Heater



July 13, 1948. o. L. GIARRE-,rsvoN '2,445,059

HEATER Filed Dec. 10,' 1945 3 v INVENTOR.

O. L. GARRETSON ATTORNEYS -lbly I3, and a gas outlet line i4.

Patented July 13, 1948 HEATER Owen L. Garretson, Bartlesville, Okla., assignor Company, a corporation to Phillips Petroleum of Delaware Application December 10, 1945, Serial No. 634,051

i 6 Claims.

This invention relates to heaters. -In one of its more specific aspects it relates to aheater assembly adapted to the heating of a liquefied gas in a storage tank to insure vaporization and a flow of gas under all conditions.

In northern and other Aareas of the United States, especially in the winter season, 'liquefied petroleum gases have been found to require some heating to assure a flow of gas under all conditions to points of consumption. Heating of the liquid fluel in installations using butane is necessary on account of the boiling point and vapor pressure considerations. Even propane, normally boiling at very low temperature and having a relatively high vapor pressure at ordinary atmospheric temperature, requires some heating inA many localities. Rapid vaporization during heavy load periods further increases. the necessity for heating.

One object oi my invention is to provide a compact heating unit for use in heating liquefied petroleum gas storage tanks.

Another object of my invention is to provide-a heating unit which is eiiicient in operationr and easy and simple to control.`

Still another object of my invention is to provide a heating assembly which is safe to use in :ionnection with liquefied petroleum gas installaons.

Stili other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a careful study of the following disclosure, vwhich taken in conjunction with the attached drawing, forms a part of this specification.

In the drawing Figure 1 illustrates diagrammatically one particular application of my heater assembly.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of my heater assembly illustrating in a diagrammatic manner its construction and taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of my heater assembly taken on the line l--S of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing and specifically to Figure 1, reference numeral I indicates a storage tank such as is used in the storage of liquefied petroleum gases for service purposes. The tank is equipped with a manhole and cover I2 which latter carries a safety valve assem- The tank is shown resting on supports I5. A pressure reducer` il serves to reduce pressure from a tank pressure to that suitable for service line purposes. The pipe I1 is a service line leading from the pressure reducer i6 to points of consumption. not shown.

A branch line I leads from the service, line |'I to my heater assembly I8. A pressure responsive device serves to control the rate of flow of gas through a valve 2| to the heater I9. This pres-- sure responsive device is installed and operated in such a manner that as pressure within the tank increases beyond a certain limit the device operates the valve 2| to reduce the flow of fuel gas yto the heater and vice versa.

In Figure 2, a section of the storage tank wall is shown as the support for the heater mech.- anism '|9. A housing member 25 which may be of semi-circular cross section as shown or of rectangular cross section, and the wall of tank serve to form a combustion chamber 21. One end wall of this combustion chamber serves as a support for a burner member 28 which may extend through this .end wall as shown. The burner 28 may be of any type of burner desired, provided it serves the purpose at hand. As illustrated, the burner is a Bunsen type burner having a fuel orifice in member 29. As fuel passes through this orifice air for combustion is drawn in through openings 30 so that the flame extends beyond the bar rel of the burner into the combustion chamber 25. l

Partially surrounding the housing member 425 is a second and larger housing member 26 which provides an annular space 3| between the two' semicircular shaped housings. This housing member 26, like member 25, may be of a semicircular cross sectiony or may be rectangular or any other shape, providing it serves its purpose. Housing 28 extends from a point adjacent or in close proximity to the open end of housing 25 to a point beyond and spaced from the closed end of housing 25.

I have herein shown the housing members 2S and 28 as being substantially semicircular in cross section, with housing 26 being the larger to form the annular space 3|. This annular space li is intended to serve mainly as an air preheating space. The air for supporting the combustion enters space 3| through the porous end wall 32 and while travelling toward the air openings 2U in the burner barrel is preheated which preheated air is used in admixture with combustion fuel in an attempt to increase the combustion heat of the heater. lBurned gasesvpass through the combustion chamber 21 to exit through a porous end wall 33 of this chamber 21. A manually operated the heater is in service.

ent o! the pressure operated iiow control valve irshown in Figure 1. The burner end of the housing member 26 has an end wall 35 which serves the double purpose of providing an air tight end to the annular space li and serving as a supporting means for the oriilce member 2l of the burner.

The porous end wall members 32- and Il involve the Davy safety lamp principle and may be made oi' such heat conducting material as copper or other substantially non-corrodible metal. These members may be of a wire gauze or screen form or layers of corrugated or honeycombed sections of thin copper or other suitable sheeting.

A lighter member 36 is a lighter assembly adapted to light the burner member Il without danger of an explosion. This assembly is composed of a plug member 31 threaded to be inserted as shown into a threaded sleeve member ll. The sleeve member Il is rigidly attached into the wall member 2l and into wall member 26 as shown. 'I'he circular line of contact of the sleeve 38 with the housing member 25 should be sealed against leakage of air from annular space 3| to the combustion chamber space 21.

Into the plug member 31 is drilled a hole 39 as shown and into the bottom of the hole is inserted a small helical compressionspring 40. On top of this spring is inserted a small metal disc 4i which should preferably be attached to the spring in such a manner as to remain fixed in a substantially horizontal manner.

Just above this screw plug assembly 38 and attached rigidly to the bottom of the tank Il is a small scratch plate 42 which is merely a piece of roughened metal intended to serve as a match scratcher.

The arrangement of the combustion chamber 21 above most of the annular space Il provides a sort of chimney effect to assist circulation of air for combustion purposes. In addition the jet effect of the fuel gas issuing from the orice in member Il expedites this air circulation. Thus cool air for supporting combustion enters the annular space 3i through gauze or fire check I2 and becomes somewhat warmed by contacting the warm housing member 2i. This warmed air then is drawn through the openings 3l in the burner tubes and combines with the gas at the tip of the burner in the form of a flame. This flame may or may not impinge directly on the bottom of the tank H, but in most cases I prefer that this flame actually contact the tank in order to be most eiective as a heating means. The warm burned gases then travel the length of the combustion space 2l and iinally exit through the fire check member 33.

To light the burner, it is merely necessary to remove the plug member 3l and into the hole 39 which is oil center of the plug insert a match, as shown in Figure 2. The plug with the match is then screwed back into place, at a point in close proximity to and ahead of the mouth of burner 2l. until the match head almost touches the strike plate l2. Then upon further turning of the plug member 3l the match head is fired by friction against the strike plate 41, the valve 3l is then opened to the flow of fuel, the flame lights and 'I'he term match includes iiint type and other lightingmeans.

As the contents of the tank becomes warmed the tank pressure increases, and the pressure responsive device 20 operates valve 2| to control the flow of fuel to the burner.

Figure 3 shows 'a cross section of the heater 'from outside to inside the tank so as to affect relatively rapid heat transfer.

The double chamber (combustion chamber andannular space) provides a meansior preheatlng the air used in the fuel burner.

The nre check members reduce the lire hazard so that the heater assembly may be used under all conditions. c

A simple and safe means is provided for igniting the burner to start a heater in operation.

The off center mtach hole in the screw plug makes for easy and safe match scratching."

Any type of burner means may be used providing it is adapted to operate satisfactorily in such a general combination as herein described.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many modifications and alterations oi my broad idea may be made and yetremain within the intended spirit and scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A heater assembly for vaporizing liqueiied petroleum gas, in combination with a storage tank, comprising two semi-tubular members concentrically disposed and forming a semi-annular space therebetween and having.a common longitudinal axis, said semi-tubular members positioned in substantiallygas tight relation with the exterior surface of said tank and at a point approximately at the bottom thereof, two of the ends of said semi-tubular members in close proximity to one another being open while the other two ends of said semi-tubular members are closed and the closures are spaced apart; a burner means extending through said closed ends into the space between the inner semi-tubular member and the.

tank bottom; and an opening in said burner means intermediate the closed ends of the semitubular members.

2. A heater assembly for vaporizing liqueiied petroleum gas. in combination with a storage tank, comprising two semi-tubular members concentrically disposed and forming a semi-annular space therebetween and having a substantially common longitudinal axis, said semi-tubular members positioned in substantially gas tight relation with the exterior surface of said tank at a point near the bottom thereof, two of the ends of said semi-tubular members in close proximity to one another being fitted with fire check means and open for gaseous flow while the other two ends of said semi-tubular members are closed and the closures are spaced apart; a burner mea. extending through the closed ends of said semitubular members and into the space between the inner semi-tubular member and the tank surface: and an opening in said burner means at a point intermediate the two closed ends of the semitubular members, said opening in said burner l means providing gaseous communication between said burner means; said lighting means comprising a plug threadedly inserted through the semitubular members at said point, said plug having an opening the longitudinal axis of which is substantially parallel with but ofi center with respect to the longitudinal axis of said threaded plug, said opening adapted to hold a match stick in such a manner that the head end of said match touches an abrasive scratching means xed to said tank surface.

4. A heater assembly, for vaporizing liquefied petroleum gas, in combination with a storage tank, comprising a rst housing rigidly aixed adjacent the bottom portion of said storage tank so that said storage tank comprises a portion of the walls of said housing, one end of said housing being open and the other end closed to form a iirst chamber therein which is gas-tight except for the open end;a second housing partially surrounding said rst housing and extending from a point in close proximity to the open end of said rst housing to a point beyond and spaced from the closed end of said rst housing, that end of said second housing nearest the closed end of said iirst housing -being closedand the other end open, said second housing being positioned so as to form a second gas-tight chamber around a portion of said iirst housing, throughout its length, except at the open end of said second housing; burner means extending through the closed ends of said rst and second housings and into said first chamber; and an opening in said burner means within said second chamber, said opening and said burner means providing for gaseous communication between the two chambers.

5. A heater assembly, for vaporizing liqueiied 4petroleum gas, in combination with a storage tank, comprising a rst housing. rigidly aixed adjacent the bottom portion of said storage tank, one end of said housing being open and the other end closed to form a rst chamber therein which is gas-tight except for the open end; a lsecond housing partially surrounding said iirst housing and extending from a point in close proximity to the open end of said rst housing to a point beyond and spaced from the closed end of said p first housing, that end of said ls econd housing nearest the closed end of said iirst housing being closed and the other end open, said second housing being positioned so a-s to form a second gas-y tight chamber around a portion of said first housing, throughout its length, except at the open end of said second housing; burner means extending'from said second chamber through the closed end of said first housing and into said rst chamber; an opening in said burner means Within said second chamber, said opening and said burner means providing f or gaseous communication between the two chambers, and fuel supply means extending through the closed end of said second chamber to communicate with said burner means.

6. The heater assembly of claim 5 wherein a safe match lighting means extends into said rst chamber at a point in close proximity to and ahead of the mouth of said burner means; said lighting means comprising a plug threadedly inserted through the walls of said first and second housings and having an opening the longitudinal axis of which is substantially parallel with but off center with respect to the longitudinal axis of said threaded plug, said opening adapted to hold a match stick in such a. maner that the head end of said match touches an abrasive scratching mean-s iixed to said tank surface.

OWEN L. GARRETSON.

, REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Martin Sept. 24, 1946 

